Mentor Texts

Today we spent a majority of our time looking at mentor texts.  These are texts that we should read and imitate because they are written so well and offer insight into how we might transfer those skills into our own writing.

One of the first pieces we looked at was Snow Fall by John Branch.  I had mentioned this one on my last post, but not every class had a chance to see it, so we took a closer look at his award winning writing.  He does a superb job using the narrative craft-with a focus on action-to build interest in the reader and to focus them on the severity of the issue.  He builds drama and suspense throughout the first chunk of the article as he describes the avalanche.  Just when the avalanche stops with people trapped inside, he shifts to a more informational style that helps to establish the background for the avalanche event.  This narrative action approach is one you could imitate.

Another piece we discussed was "Operation Overload" by Matt McCarthy about the increase in the number of Tommy John surgeries being performed.  McCarthy opens with a detailed account of Matt Ferreira's operation.  We saw how McCarthy used Matt as an example of his larger topic of the surgeries.  This single story to exemplify a larger issue approach is another style you might attempt.

I then sent you off to look at other Sports Illustrated articles and investigative journalistic books like Where Men Win Glory and The Blindside.  Lots to learn from mentor texts! Read as much as you can in the investigative journal format so that you feel comfortable when it comes time to officially write your paper.

Tonight you should be interviewing, researching and writing.  Let's get a solid draft of this paper together by Friday so we can do some peer editing.  Then be ready to submit it early next week.

Until next time...